Threshing-machine.



Patented Feb. I8, |902.

W. HfCNVER & J. W. MILES.

-THRESHING MACHINE.

(Alplcation filed May 10l 1900.)

No Model.) 43 Sheets-Sheet-l.

. TQQ-Z J .77 '6 .l vlNihil", llwlL] No. 693,787. Patented Feb. I8,|902.

W. H. CONOVER & J. W. MILES. u

THRESHING MACHINE.

(Application iled May 10, 1900.) QN o Wl o d e I 3 Sheets-Sh'aet 2.

vOGOOO IILLIAM II. OONOVER AND JOHN WV. MILES, OF BIRDS, ILLINOIS.

THRESHlNG-IVIACHINE.

SPECIFIGATEON forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,787, dated February18, 1902,

Application filed May 10, 1900. Serial No. 16,129. (No model.)

To all whom ztmfty concern,.-

Be it known thatwe,WILLIAM H. CoNovER and JOHN WV. MILES, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Birds, in the county of Lawrence andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inThreshing-Machines; and we do hereby de this country, and repeatedefforts to thresh the suniiower-seeds with the ordinarythreshing-machines have resulted in failure. Such machines can also notbe successfully used with beans,stockpeas,and buckwheat,owin g, amongother reasons, to the fact that the cylinder travels at too high aspeedwith respect to the remainder of the machine, while if all the parts arerun at a lower speed the machine chokes and clogs and requires frequentcleaning. Furthermore, the teeth in the cylinder and concave areordinarily of such shape and location as to crack the kernels, theelevating and rethreshing is undesirable, and the ordinary type of opencylinder soon becomes choked with particles of seed and chaff.

The present invention consists in a threshing-machine which, whilepossessing many details common to the type now in use, is especiallydesigned to overcome the above objections, so as to successfully operatein connection with sunflower-seed, beans, stockpeas, buckwheat, and thelike.

The following specification describes the machine complete, includingour features of improvement, as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- Figure 1 is an elevation of the right side of themachine, with the chute removed and the feeders platform and rearcarrier raised as for transportation. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinalsection,with all parts in place ready for use. Fig. 2 is a perspectivedetail of the rake. Fig. 3 is a left side elevation. Fig. 4 is a planview with the cover removed. Fig. 5 is an end view of the cylinder withone of its bars slightly removed. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the mainconcave. Fig. 7` is a plan View of the supplemental'concave to be usedwhen the seed or grain is damp or'wet. Fig. S is a plan view of a blankto be substituted for the supplemental concave when the seed or grain isdry. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the grate. Fig. 10 is a plan view of thegrainpan. Fig. 11 is a detail of the shoe-frame and sieves. Fig. 12 is aperspective detail of one of the blocks forming a bearing for thecylinder-shaft.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the main framework, to the front end ofwhich are hinged a pair of arms 2, carrying a feeders platform 3,supported in operative position by hooks -iL engaging eyes 5 and adaptedto be raised and engaged with the eyes 6 when the machine is to betransported. On a suitable bracket 7 is mounted a feeders table 8,having one stationary leaf and one hinged leaf 9, which may be foldedinto smaller space for transportation.

10 is the usual chute, removably connected at its inner end with thefeed end of the machine and supported at its outer end by hooks and eyes11. The framework is suitably constructed and supported and ispreferably provided with hinged covers and other details not necessaryto describe. The rear carrierframe 12 is pivoted at 13 and is supportedby links 14, having notches 15 engaging pins 1G on the framework,whereby the carrier may be adjusted to the proper angles or may beraised for transportation.

The various parts hereinafter described are preferably driven by pulleysand belting connected in any suitable manner with the power- 'shaft 17,which here constitutes the axis of the cylinder and is driven with aspeed. of about fifteen hundred revolutions per minute-a much lowerspeed than that usually imparted to the cylinders of threshing-machines.The reason for this comparatively low speed is that when the machineisused for the hulling of the seeds mentioned the revolution of thecylinder at a high speed would crack the seed. The connections from thisshaft are shown clearly and are well understood by wet.

those familiar with this art, and they will not be described in detailherein.

The body-2O of the cylinder may be solid, or it may have spokes, asshown in Fig. 5, so long as its rim is solid. The working surface of thecylinder is composed of a number of bars 2l, removably secured upon thebody, as by bolts, and in such manner that their edges will liecontiguous to or in contact with each other. Fixed in and projectingfrom each bar is one row of teeth 22, each of which is a round straightrod about half an inch in diameter and projecting about two inches.These teeth are preferably spaced two inches from centerl to center bothlongitudinally and circumferentially of the cylinder. The latter is faston the main shaft 17, which is journaled in blocks or plates 25 justinside the sides Vof the framework, and the cylinder is about three feetlong. y

The concave is composed of a slightlycnrved body 30, preferably havingtwo rows ot' holes 3l: and three rows of teeth 32 of the same size andlength as those on the cylinder, all teeth being spaced about two inchesfrom center to center longitudinally, the two front rows about the samedistance apart transversely, and the single rear row about three inchestransversely from the intermediate row. The concave is rigidly supported(preferably by said blocks 25) beneath and in such relative position tothe cylinder that the teeth of these two members shall lap for abouthalf their lengths. We have found that this arrangement works to thebest advantage when the machine is used to thresh seed of the characterdescribed.

The supplemental concave (about eight inches in width, whereas the mainconcave is about ten inches in width) comprises a body 40, with alongitudinal slot 4l, forward of which is a single row of teeth 42 ofabout the same size and spacing as those above described. 48 designatesthe body of a blank supplemental concave of about the saine size andprovided with the same slot 4l, but omitting the teeth. Eithersupplemental concave is removably supported at its extremities ingrooves 45 near the rear edges of said blocks 25, and the front edge ofthe supplemental concave abuts against the rear edge of the mainconcave. The toothed member is to be employed when the grain or seed isdamp or The blank or plain member is to be substituted when it is dry,and either coperates with the main concave in a manner which will beclear. The reason for the use of these supplemental concaves, asdescribed, is because there is no necessity for the teeth 42 when thehulls are dry, and it is also desired to use as few teeth as possible inorder to avoid cracking the seed. We have also found that a slot 4l canbe usedy in the supplemental concave instead of'holes such as are formedin the main concave. Here again the object is to permit the seed to passthrough as large an opening as possible wherever 'it can be done, andthus avoid all possibility of cracking said seed.

Back' of the supplemental concave is 1ocated the grate, which consistsof a flat body 50 about twelve inches wide and containing a row of holes5l about -two inches in diameter. These holes are preferably concave,being quite large at their upper ends and taperin g downward throughoutthe thickness of the grate 50 to their lower ends, and the reason forthis specific shape of the holes is because the grate stands beneath andcoperates with -the teeth of the rake next to be described, and if saidteeth moved over fine holes or even over a slot they would be apt tocrack the seed or too finely break the hulls., When the points of theseteeth move over the upper ends of comparatively large holes, it isobvious that this objection will not arise. Furthermore, it would beimpossible when using such large rholes to make more than a single rowof them without causing the grate to be excessively wide, and that wouldavoid the possibility of operation with' a rake-head which was driven byrotary movement. Back of the grate is located a carrier consisting oftwo rollers 60, connected by live parallel belts 6l, having transversebars 62, and. driven by belting above mentioned and not herein specifically described.

Above the carrier is located a rake whose body is a bar extendinglongitudinally of the machine and pivotally mounted upon twocrank-shafts 7l and 72, having cranks of different lengths. The rearcrank oscillates through the lower arc of a circle while the forward onerotates, as it is connected by belting with the power-shaft, as abovedescribed. Beneath the front end of this bar 70 is a block 73, to whichis secured a transverse arm 74, forming a T-head and having a number ofteeth '75 in its lower edge. The direction of movement is indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 2, and. the purpose of the rake is to carry the chaffaway from the cylinder off the grate and onto the carrier.

Below the carrier is located the grain-pan, whose body is of tin orother sheet metal, mounted within a suitable frameSl. Projecting fromthe latter are pins 82,which pass through slots in the framework and arehung on links 83, while the entire grain-pan receives its motion througha pitman-rod 84., connected with a crank on a shaft standing below thecylinder. For about a third of its length the front end of thisgrain-pan is provided with ribs 86, facing to the rear. The centralthird of the length of the body is plain, and the rearmost third thereofis pierced with anumber of holes 87, each about three-fourths of an inchin diameter. The ribs 86 evidently pass the seed and chaff to the rearas the pan vibrates, on the plain portion of the pan the vibrationcausing the seed to settle so that the chaff will be on top, and whenthe perforated portion of the pan is reached the seed will obviouslydrop through the holes IOO IIO

Isc

while the chaff (or at least most of the chaff) will pass off the rearend of the pan and be blown out of the machine. The grain-pan eX- tendsthe entire length of the machine and may have teeth 88 projecting fromits rear end to support and toss rearwardly any extra long chaff orstraw Whichmay have fallen onto the pan.

The shoe (see Fig. 11) comprises a shakingframe 90,whose sides areconnected by fabric 91 with the interior of the framework 1 and whosebottom 92 inclines toward the feed end of the machine and delivers intoa laterallyinclined spout 93. A pitman-rod 94, driven by a crank on asuitable pulley, operates a lever,95 and reciprocates a secondpitman-rod 96,which through a bell-crank lever 97 gives the necessarylateral shake to the entire shoe. The shoe-frame contains cleats orguides 98, into which are inserted from the rear sieves of theproper-sized mesh, each sieve being surrounded by a frame 99, whichslides upon the cleats and holds the sieve-body distended. In thepresent machine the upper screen or sieve 100 is of tin or metal, withholes 101 about half an inch in diameter. The second sieve 102 issimilarly constructed with holes 103 about one-quarter of an inch indiameter, and the bottom 92 of the shoe is pierced with holes 104 aboutone-eighth of an inch in diameter. "While said bottom is not removableunless the entire shoe is withdrawn, each of the sieves can be withdrawnwith its surrounding frame and repaired or replaced at will.

110 is the fan, located within a suitable casing 111 and delivering itsblast to the rear throughout the length of the shoe.

In operation, the parts being in position, as best seen in Fig. 2, thematerial is fed in over the chute 10 and threshed by the cylinder overthe concave and supplemental concave. The rake draws the chaff over thegrate and delivers it onto the carrier, and the seed and grain with thefiner chaff falls through the concave and grate onto the ribs of thegrainpan, whence it is carried along to the rear and drops through theholes 87, while the longer straw and chaff passes off the carrier ontothe rear carrier and is delivered onto the pile. The seed and grain withthe finer chaff then passes through the various sieves of the shoe,

, during which the chaff is blown out and the seeds separated therefrom,and the lateral shaking of the shoe causes them to slide forward and bedelivered out of the spout 93.

All parts are of the desired relative proportions and materials; but thepreferable sizes are stated herein, for the reason that we have foundthem to be serviceable in successfully performing the work which isdemanded of this machine.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a threshing-machine, the combination with' the casing, blockssecured within the sides thereof and having grooves, and a cyl inderwhose Vshaft is journaled through the blocks; ofthe main concave rigidlysecured to the blocks, and a supplemental concave mounted in the grooves.of lthe blocks with its front edge in contact with the rear edge of themain concave and its body provided with a slot, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a threshing-machine, the combination with the casing, blockssecured within the sides thereof and having grooves, and a cylL inderwhose shaft is journaled through the blocks; of the main concave rigidlysecured to the blocks, and a supplemental concave in two membersinterchangeably mounted one at a time in said grooves and bothlongitudi# nally slotted, one member only being pro videdwith a seriesof teeth, substantially as described. i

3. The combination of the threshing de-V '4. In a machine for thepurpose described,

tures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. CONOVER. JOHN W. MILES.

Witnesses:

W. O. HUGHEs, M. 1I. BOWMAN.

IOC)

